Preface to the 14th solo exhibition by Lee Myung-ok( Coexistence in Diversity : An Integrated Worldview Embracing Differences)
Lee Myung-Ok Director of Savina Museum of Contemporary Art
“We have begun to define Gaia as a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet.”
— James Lovelock, from Gaia:A New Look at Life on Earth
Lee Gil Rae’s works, which will be on view at Savina Museum of Contemporary Art in 2024, suggest an integrated worldview in which the various components of the Earth are interconnected and interdependent, and coexist as a cosmic organism through the harmonious interactions of its components. He combines things with different forms and properties, such as natural and man-made objects, human, pine, and stone, to emphasize the implication that the earth's ecosystem is composed of one large living organism.
The approach shares similarities to the Gaia Hypothesis: a theory formulated by a British environmental scientist James Lovelock in his 1979 book, Gaïa: A New Look at Life on Earth, the Gaia Hypothesis views the entire Earth's ecosystem as a single organism. Named after Gaia, the "earth goddess" in Greek mythology, the theory encompasses an innovative concept that the Earth's various components - living and nonliving, environmental and human - are interconnected to form one gigantic organism, and that the Earth itself is a living organism with a self-regulating system. The Gaia Hypothesis, which proposes that the Earth is a living organism composed of harmonious systems in which life and non-life are interdependent, has contributed to a new era of awareness of the global environment and ecosystems.
For the past 30 years, Lee has been conveying his reflections on the vitality of nature and the principles of its creation in a unique and powerful sculptural language. Among those works the one which has attracted the most attention are his pine tree series, which represents the primordial vitality of nature through the unique forms and motifs of Geumgangsong, one of the most representative plants of Korea. Geumgangsong is a type of pine tree that grows on the Korean Peninsula and is characterized by its ability to thrive in dry, rough soil, tolerate cold, and adapt to harsh environments. With its distinctive strong trunk and stems, fine, needle-like leaves, its nature of longevity, and resistance to natural disasters, the pine tree is perceived as a symbol of strength and eternity. It is also often considered as a symbol signifying the Korean people, who have shared a history of half a million years, as the lyric "That Pine Tree on Namsan Mountain" shows up in the second verse of the very national anthem.
In this solo exhibition, Lee Gil Rae, who has become known as the "artist of pine trees," presents a number of new works based on his accumulated experiences and artistic explorations, fusing the roots of pine trees and stones, natural objects, and the human body, and unfolding his unique worldview deeper, wider, and freer. The significance of this new change beyond his previous work can be explained in the three aspects as follows.
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1 Deepening
“The pine tree is one of the most thriving trees on the planet. If you bulldoze a path through a forest, there's a good chance that a pine tree will grow in the place where it was cut. If people abandon their farmland, pine trees would be the first to take over. When volcanoes erupt, when glaciers move, or when winds and oceans deposit sand, pine trees will be among the first plants to find a place to take root.”
—Anna Lowenhaup Tsing, American cultural anthropologist.
When we say that an artist’s worldview has deepened, it would mean that he or she has delved deeper into previously unexplored themes or complexities, or added more depth in terms of materials, compositional methods, and expressive techniques. In this exhibition, one will see that one of the most notable aspects is the inclusion of a massive installation work of the unseen roots of the Korean red pine as a main piece. With such a massive feature in the space, the work creates a strong visual impact. Roots absorb the necessary nutrients and energy for trees to grow and live, and they play a key role in the growth and survival of life. Here, the giant roots signify vitality, vigor, and the strength of nature. To emphasize the interconnectedness of the ecological system through the roots, the artist has taken a new approach to the installation work. Taking advantage of the open space that runs through the second and third floors, he put the taproot (650cm in height) headed toward the ceiling, while the rootlets are spread out on the floor with 14 large and small tertiary roots (1000cm in width): it almost extends like a spider web to the floor of the second floor. By installing the roots in such a way they can be seen from the bottom up on the second floor and from the top down on the third floor, the work metaphorizes the process of life’s energy; how a life grows from the ground while absorbing its vital energy 12 through the roots and grows upward through the stem. It represents the organically bound nature of an ecosystem, in which organisms interact through a network of roots.
-A Root: A Symbol of Universal Vitality
“When we say that something is ‘true’, we know that the root of the word is similar to that of ‘tree’ and ‘truce’. We can learn true living from the steadfast character and flexible spirit of the tree.”
— Kim Stafford, American Poet
This new large-scale root installation forms a strong connection to the bristlecone pine, which is known as one of the oldest living things on Earth. Found primarily in the White Mountains of California, the Bristlecone pine has an extraordinary adaptability to thrive in extreme conditions, and its very presence has made it a symbol of longevity and persistence. The tree's longevity is reflected in the Latin word used for its species name, 'longaeva,' which means 'long-lived'. The bristlecone pine survives in hostile environments, such as rocky mountainous areas where almost nothing else grows and symbolizes strength and perseverance. The phrase 'steel pine' emphasizes this remarkable ability to survive and describes the bristlecone pine as the embodiment of perseverance. Methuselah, the world's oldest bristlecone pine in existence, protected in a secret location in the White Mountains of Inyo National Forest, is estimated to be 4,855 years old as of 2024. In 1957, American botanist and arborist Edmund Schulman analyzed the tree's rings to determine its age and named it Methuselah (the eighth-generation grandson of Adam and grandfather of Noah, who died at age 969), the oldest living person in the Bible.
In the article “Defiant of Climate and Time (L’albero che sfida clima e tempo)” in Visualizing Nature: Essays on Truth, Spirit, and Philosophy, American biologist and ecologist David Haskell states, "Some trees are 2,000 or 1,000 years old, while younger trees were born in the 17th or 18th century. The roots of bristlecone pine trees wind through rocks formed by magma that flowed on the earth's surface 1.4 billion years ago. The wildflowers that bloom among the trees and rocks are only a centimeter or two above the ground. But the roots of these tiny flowers can extend more than a meter into the rocks. They look short and fragile, but they live for decades, even centuries."
According to Dr. Valerie Trouet of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Institute at the University of Arizona, the world's longest-lived trees are generally found in remote, harsh environments with strong environmental constraints. The Korean pine and bristlecone pine are trees that have survived in the harsh environments of the Korean Peninsula and North America, respectively, and despite their different habitats, they share common traits that 13 symbolize the energy, vitality, and perseverance of nature.
-Cells, the Fundamental Unit of Life
The artist has developed his unique sculptural techniques and deepened his thematic awareness of self-sustainability and life energy. Early on, he established his distinctive artistic style and sculptural language by employing copper pipes to create natural shapes. Copper pipes are generally known as a mechanical and artificial material. Lee’s ingenuity is seen in his use of this inanimate material to somewhat paradoxically convey the vitality and power of nature.
The artist uses his unique sculptural technique of cutting the copper pipes at regular intervals and then pressing the sides of the pipes to form long oval-shaped rings, and the hundreds and thousands of small oval rings produced through this process symbolize the cells of life. As the source of vitality, the fundamental unit of life and the starting point of growth, the cell plays an essential role in natural phenomena and life. In this sense, each copper pipe ring becomes semantically equivalent to the smallest unit of life; the seed of life; the microcosm. By using oxyfuel welding, these oval rings are welded together, one by one, to form a pine tree with a sinuous body and a tortoiseshell-like surface.
The flexible nature of copper allows for the unique and sophisticated fabrication process of welding, where the rings (a semantic representation of cells) are repeatedly joined to form the entire tree. Such a process represents the natural process of individual cells joining together to form a tree, and the welding process signifies the natural forces and interactions in the growth and formation of a tree. The small cells are systematically connected and integrated to construct the shape of the whole tree, and the whole tree assumes its significance as the sum of these small parts.
2 Broadening
A broadening of the artist’s worldview means that he or she is exploring new ideas, themes, styles, etc. that haven’t been explored before, and introducing new perspectives to make his or her work more diverse and comprehensive. In other words, they are thinking outside the box and using different perspectives and experiences to develop and expand their work to new heights. While Lee’s previous works borrowed the shape of a pine tree to suggest the origin of life and a worldview based on the Eastern way of thinking, his new works expand his artistic concepts to include various natural elements that make up an ecosystem, such as invisible tree roots and inanimate stones. For example, in the gigantic root installed on the second floor, there lies various size stones scattered around several rootlets that branch out from the main root. This large-scale installation work featuring pine roots and stones is a result of the artist’s experimentation and exploration of contrasts and variations in material properties, shape and texture, curves and straight lines, color contrasts, and sustainability. This kind of diversity and expandability comes with the following implications.
-The Passage of Time and Immutability
In this work, roots and stones both imply the passage of time. Roots have an attribute to absorb energy from the ground, allowing the tree to grow and change over time. Stone, on the other hand, is an immutable object that can remain unchanged for centuries, giving it a strong characteristic that resists time. The combination of these two opposing materials suggests that nature can achieve harmonious balance when conflicting qualities such as life and immortality, change and stability, organic and inorganic elements are interconnected and allowed to coexist.
-Diversity of Symbolism and Meaning
The pine tree represents longevity and abundance of life, and its deep roots represent vitality and durability. As an important part of the earth’s foundation, stones often indicate a profound connection to nature. The combination of pine and stone, two very distinct elements of nature, represents the interaction between nature and inanimate objects. As such, their union symbolizes a harmonious balance between the natural and the inanimate, the organic and the inorganic, a relationship in which life and stability complement each other. The intersection of meanings and values symbolized by each element allows for a variety of interpretations of the work. This complexity and symbolic connotation is what enriches the art world.
-Expansion of Imagination and Extension of the Senses
Each element has its own characteristics and meaning. Through the artistic combination of different beings, these elements participate in the process of expanding the imagination and the senses beyond the scope of everyday experiences. This manifests the artist’s desire to go beyond the constraints of reality, to explore new forms and concepts, and to produce creative forms. In particular, the combination of human beings, pine, stone, and other materials with copper pipes creates an unexpected harmony. The contrast of the two seemingly opposite elements emphasizes the harmonious unity of the work, offering new perspectives and revealing creativity. These works offer the viewer a new experience through the expansion of imagination and extension of the senses.
3 Unrestrained
When an artist's worldview has become less restrained, it means that they became fluid from existing rules and constraints. It means that they are able to express their creativity more freely through new ideas and innovative expressions. It is a sign that the artist realizes the true value of art, and that his or her passion for creating is not confined and is constantly seeking freedom of expression. Lee's worldview is constantly evolving and reshaping itself. In this exhibition, the artist has entered a new creative realm by actively introducing creative ideas and expressions, rather than simply being progressive. With the deconstruction and fusion of living and non-living things as the core theme, Lee has brought the world of his works to a more independent and freer dimension through in depth thinking. His works, which are typically made of copper pipes that are both tree and man, tree and stone, are considered to be an ingenious attempt to explore a cosmic worldview by organically combining different forms and energies of plants, humans, inanimate objects, nature and artificiality. In doing so, he breaks away from traditional themes, emphasizes the artist’s imagination and freedom of expression, and shows how art can take many forms. Thus, the meaning of these works can be interpreted in the following aspects.
-Dissolving and Fusing Boundaries
Lee’s works, which combine elements with different forms and properties, such as man, pine tree, stone, and copper pipe, shows the dissolution and fusion of boundaries. It is an artistic expression that allows various concepts such as man and nature, reality and imagination, nature and artificiality, past and future to be interconnected and integrated. In such works, different elements are deconstructed and fused to form new combinations and connections, suggesting interdependence and harmonious coexistence across boundaries. The idea is to show the harmony of nature, that all living things on Earth survive and thrive by interacting with non-living things that support them. This leads to the notion that each natural element influences and is influenced by the other, forming a consolidated body
- Cosmic Cycles and Balance
Lee’s work conveys the idea that each being acts as a part of the cosmic cycle, changing and interacting in the continuity of life. maintaining its own balance in a continuous cycle. From a cosmic perspective, Lee views the earth as one enormous organism, and within 16 this organism, the various components interact, harmonize, and are interconnected. Each organic and inorganic body participates in the energy and cycles of the planet and is reminded that it is part of a larger system. This cosmic view of cycles and balance emphasizes the vitality and energy flow of the planet, recognizing that the planet we live on is built of interdependent systems.
- A New Understanding of Ecosystems and Sustainability
His works propose a new understanding of ecosystems by combining different elements of the earth and representing them as one unified life form. The pine roots represented in the work symbolize self-sustaining vitality that penetrates deep into the ground. They represent a close connection to the environment, implying that each tiny root is the foundation of a sustainable ecosystem. On the one hand, the stone is an inanimate object, but through its stability and constancy, it provides an example of balance and change in nature as well. Through such works, we gain a new understanding of how sustainable development and ecosystem conservation are interconnected. It also allows us to rethink the impact of human behavior on ecosystems and the environment from a perspective of sustainability. It raises awareness of the issues such as environmental pollution, resource consumption, and biodiversity loss, and gives us a sense of responsibility for how our interactions with the planet we live on can improve sustainability.
4 Conclusion - Using Difference as a Source of Unity
“Our great mother does not take sides, Jake. She protects only the balance of life.”
— Neytiri, the main character from the movie Avatar.
Avatar, directed by James Cameron, is a movie about the conflict and coexistence of humanity and nature on the planet Pandora. The movie emphasizes the idea of animism and an integral worldview. Animism is the idea that all beings - people, animals, plants, and objects - have energy and soul. This integral worldview encompasses the idea that elements with different forms and properties are organically connected to form one large universal life form. On the planet Pandora, nature is revered as a living entity, and all living and non-living things live together in community. There is also a sacred tree that provides the energy for life. Revered as the Tree of the Universe, it sustains the ecosystem by feeding the planet's energy, and its branches and roots are connected to all life. As a source of energy and the mother of all things, this colossal tree is a symbol of animism and an integral worldview in which the extraterrestrial indigenous Na'vi people and the many forms of nature are connected and coexist as one.
“The tree of life” in Avatar and the pine tree in Lee Gil Rae’s work have something in common: they each present an integrated worldview centered on the energy and vitality of nature, where the earth coexists as one large organism. The pine tree in Lee’s work represents the earth as one large living organism, with beings of different forms and qualities linked in harmony. The roots of the pine tree are united with the earth, showing that nature, humans, and various forms of life work together organically. Combining humans, pine trees, and stones, the works embodies the idea of animism and an integral worldview. Through visual representations of the interconnectedness and interdependence of human life and nature, these works inspire a new understanding of the earth's ecosystems and environment. This leads to a message that emphasizes the importance of diversity in the earth's ecosystems, with various elements coexisting in a state of harmony.
There's a scene in Avatar where the lead character, Jake Sully, says, “All energy is only borrowed and at some point, we have to give it back.” This line has an interesting parallel with Lee's work. The question, "How can we give back the borrowed energy?" is the starting point from which Lee’s vision of the world is established. In the process of finding an answer to the question, the artist presents an integrated worldview that embraces dissimilarity and differences through his works. This kind of integrated view of the world implies a worldview in which various beings with diverse forms, properties, and attributes interact and organically combine to form one harmonious unity. This reflects the artist's will to create a new world through the role of art by recognizing and integrating dissimilarity and differences.
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